Dark Knight (Awakening)
The Dark Knight (ダークナイト Dāku naito) is a horse-mounted combat magical class that is introduced in Fire Emblem Awakening. One of the promoted forms of the Dark Mage class, Dark Knights wield Tomes as their primary weapon of choice, and are also able to arm Swords as their secondary weapon. History in the Series In its original inception in Awakening, the Dark Knight class is introduced as the successor to the Mage Knight class of old. One of the promoted forms of the Dark Mage and Mage classes, the Dark Knight class is armed with Swords and Tomes as its weapons of choice. In Fates, Dark Knights are treated as a Nohrian class, and again as one of the promoted forms of the Dark Mage class. In Warriors, Dark Knight is the base class of Leo and is unable to use Swords, though their ability to do so is referenced in Leo's Dual Special, with him using his Iceblade. It promotes into Dark Crusader and is a clone of the Troubadour class. In Three Houses, Dark Knight is a class featured in the Master Rank curriculum. To pass the Dark Knight class, a unit must be at Lv. 30 and have an A in Riding, a B+ in Reason, and a C in Lances. In addition, the Dark Knight class has a mirror class in the form of the Holy Knight. Overview Combat Dark Knights are similar to Mage Knights, in the sense that their Magic is slightly higher than their Strength. When compared to their un-promoted forms, Dark Knights clearly have superior Movement, making them great for performing rescue missions. They do, however, suffer from the usual litany of weaknesses that are associated with mounted units, including limited range on sand-based skirmishes and sustaining bonus damage from Beast Killers. Compared to Sorcerers, Dark Knights are much more all-rounded but have poor Skill and Speed. In Awakening, the first skill that Dark Knights are able to learn is Slow Burn. This skill improves their Hit Rate and Avoid by 1 point for each passing turn for fifteen turns. Given the subpar Skill of Dark Knights, Slow Burn can benefit them in the long run, but it has its limitations due to its potency taking time to build up. The skill is thus generally not very useful on lower difficulties. Lifetaker, conversely, is a regenerative skill that allows Dark Knights to recover half of their maximum HP upon successfully killing a foe. This skill is particularly useful when Dark Knights are low on HP; other units could weaken foes sufficiently for them to kill off, allowing them to replenish their HP without the aid of recovery items or Staves. In Fates, the first skill learnt by Dark Knights has been replaced with Seal Magic. After battling (provided that both units survived), the target will lose 6 points of magic after battle. This makes the Dark Knight as an effective magic crippler, as it can chip off a decent amount of magic when stacked with other debuffs. Their Hoshidan counterpart is the Basara class, as both are promotions of the Tome-wielding classes that allows them to use another weapon other than Tomes. Dark Knights have a bit more flexibility with tomes due to their A-rank proficiency and can cover more ground due to being a mounted unit. However, Basaras have more flexibility with lances and their stats are much more balanced. Overall, Dark Knights form a rather useful class as a whole, performing well as a flexible offensive unit. Although they are not as magically proficient and somewhat slower compared to Sages and Sorcerers, their use of swords allows them to counter high resistance units. In Fates, this also keeps the Dark Knight from being a completely helpless unit when suffering from the effects of Snake Spirits, Dragon Spirits and Ginnungagap tomes. Uniform The Dark Knight class generally takes on an ominous appearance that is closely intertwined with the overarching theme of death, replete with jet-black armour, headpieces with fearsome miens and horses with black coats. The masks donned by both incarnations of the class encapsulate the theme particularly well; in Awakening, the masks donned by Dark Knights carry designs inspired by Grima's face, while in Fates, the masks resemble actual human skulls. In-Game Base Stats E E |fe14=19*8*6*6*5*3*8*6*8*-*-* E E }} Maximum Stats A A |fe14=55*32*31*28*27*31*34*30*8*-*-* B A }} Growth Rates Class Skills Promotions Notable Dark Knights ''Awakening *Farber - A Valmese commander who fetishizes Walhart. *Anguilla - One of the twelve Deadlords. (Originally a Mage Fighter) *Ares (SpotPass) *Olwen (SpotPass) *Selena (SpotPass) *Possible promotion for: Miriel, Ricken, Tharja, Henry and Laurent. Fates *Leo - Prince of Nohr and the younger brother of Corrin. *Possible promotion for: Odin, Nyx and Ophelia. ''Three Houses * Easily (all 3 req's are strengths) accessible promotion for: Sylvain and Lorenz * Accessible (2 out of 3 req's are strengths) promotion for: Hubert, Ferdinand, Bernadetta, Dimitri, Ingrid, Leonie, Marianne, Flayn, Hanneman, Gilbert, Anna, and Jeritza. * Volkhard - Noble of the Adrestian Empire and Edelgard's uncle. There's more of himself than what he actually shows. * Blaiddyd - One of the Ten Elites, original bearer of the Crest of Blaiddyd, and founder of House Blaiddyd. Trivia *In the opening cutscene in Fates, Dark Knights can be seen using swords. A few can also be seen using lances, though they are incapable of using them in-game. Gallery File:Dark Knight Male.jpg|Concept artwork of the male variant of the Dark Knight class. File:Dark Knight Female.jpg|Concept artwork of the female variant of the Dark Knight class. File:Darkknightmount.jpg|Concept artwork of the Dark Knight mount. DarkKnightFem.jpg|Concept art of a female Dark Knight from Fates DarkKnightMale.JPG|Concept art of a male Dark Knight from Fates File:AwakeningDarkKnightPortrait.png|Portrait of the generic male Dark Knight from Awakening. File:AwakeningDarkKnightFemalePortrait.png|Portrait of the generic female Dark Knight from Awakening. File:FE13 Dark Knight (Ricken).png|Battle model of Ricken, a male Dark Knight from Awakening. File:FE13 Dark Knight (Tharja).png‎|Battle model of Tharja, a female Dark Knight from Awakening. File:FatesDarkKnightPortrait.png|Generic class portrait of a Dark Knight from Fates. File:FE14 Dark Knight (Leo).jpg|Battle model of Leo, a male Dark Knight from Fates. File:Ibunroku Cain Dark Knight.png|In game model of Cain, a Dark Knight from Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE. File:FE13 Generic Dark Knight Map Sprite.gif|Map sprite of the Dark Knight class from Awakening. File:FE14 Generic Dark Knight Map Sprite.gif|Map sprite of the Dark Knight class from Fates.